Deportation of 19,000 Jews from Sofia Reported in Sweden; Rumanian Jews in Panic

June 15, 1943

STOCKHOLM (Jun. 14)

More than 19,000 Jews have already been deported from Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, as a result of the expulsion order issued by the Bulgarian Government several weeks ago, the Swedish newspaper Nya Dagligt Allehanda reported today.

Of the 25,000 Jews who resided in the city before the deportations started, only several thousand, who are citizens of neutral countries, have not yet been expelled. The majority of them are Turkish nationals, the report in the Swedish paper said.

Reports reaching here from Rumania state that the Jewish population there has been thrown into a panic by an announcement that the Gestapo has sent a special commissioner from Berlin to Bucharest to assume control of the Rumanian police force. The commissioner is reported to be Ernst Kaltenbrunner, notorious Nazi and one of Himmler’s chief assistants.